Spanish farmers they drove today the tractor them through roads cities disrupting traffic as they step up their protest against skyrocketing costs, red tape and cheap competition from outside the European Union.

The demonstrations, which started spontaneously yesterday, Tuesday, after being spread by other EU countries, are supported by the country’s three major farmers’ unions.

Dozens of tractors surrounded the regional parliament in Barcelona after their drivers spent the night in the city centre.

Farmers disrupted traffic in smaller towns across the country, including central Avila, Vitoria in the north and Antequera in the south.

The Spanish farmers joined their colleagues from Germany, France, Italy and Belgium, where the demonstrations were sometimes marked by incidents.

Farmers in many EU countries argue that rules to protect the environment make them less competitive than farmers in other regions. They also say they are being suffocated by taxes and red tape.

Large volumes of imports from Ukraine, on which the EU has not applied quotas and tariffs since Russia’s invasion, and renewed negotiations on a trade deal between the EU and the South American bloc Mercosur have fueled resentment of unfair competition.

Spain’s interior ministry said police made 12 arrests during yesterday’s protests, which included blockades of several major product distribution centers. The government and retail associations do not expect immediate food shortages.

Transport federation FENADISMER said the blockades affect more than 80,000 trucks.

Since Tuesday, Spanish farmers have been blocking highways and ports in Malaga and Castellón and boulevards in Barcelona and elsewhere.

The protests led the government to announce an extra €269 million in subsidies to up to 140,000 farmers and the European Commission to abandon a plan to halve pesticide use in the Union.